Jan. 28, 2013

A northern mockingbird warms itself in the morning sun with no eagle around. / Dean Curtis/News-Leader

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Roaming a rural road south of Lake Springfield, I spied a gray, haphazard mass of branches atop a towering, bleached-white sycamore tree.

And atop the tangle, the white crown of a nesting bald eagle.

I cast my camera’s 70-200mm lens upon the bird, yet the eagle appeared much too small in the viewfinder.

Getting closer was not an option. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, it is not wise to get close to a nesting eagle as you might disturb the incubation of its eggs.

I planned to return with the right equipment.

The next morning I was parked before the sun crested the hilltop to the east, with the proper lens and a hot cup of coffee. It wasn’t long though before I realized I was an empty nester. No eagle.

Would it return? I waited.

Now, I can’t speak for other photographers, but in situations like this I start to imagine things.

I envisioned the eagle swooping back to its nest with freshly caught prey.

I can see it now — lens trained on the nest — the majestic eagle fills my viewfinder. From its strong yellow talons hangs a fish … a rabbit … a small yappy dog.

Great pictures raced through my head.

Ten minutes turned into 20, then 30, then 40.

No luck, no eagle, no picture.

I imagined it eating freshly caught prey elsewhere. Perhaps on a far-off lawn, a breakfast of Fifi still tethered by a chain.

I recently shot and published a photo of a Cooper’s hawk eating a starling. The next day, a reader called to comment on the picture. As she talked, she went on to theorize that most of the town’s missing pets had likely been carried off by hawks.

And I thought I had a vivid imagination.

During the wait, my eye was drawn to a small bird in a tree along the fence line. It was warming itself in the morning sun, feathers puffed out against the cold.

Not wanting to leave empty-handed, I grabbed my camera. Remarkably, the northern mockingbird let me get quite close and even flew onto a lower branch.

This allowed me to compose my picture with the morning sun behind it.

Just imagine how good this picture would be if it were an eagle instead.